Album Rating: 2.5
Hehehe, tbf seeing slow show was the other highlight as I sang it at my wedding, so my wife and I made eyes at each other during that one, so I get where you're coming from. In third place, England also took on a new significance for me
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Album Rating: 3.0 | Sound Off
Agreed, ‘England’ comes into its own when played live
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Album Rating: 2.0
'Hehehe, tbf seeing slow show was the other highlight as I sang it at my wedding'
Damn, that's adorable. Great choice. I wish my wife liked Natty's style enough for Slow Show to mean something to her, lol
...not that I'd actually get up and sing, that takes guts so bravo
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Album Rating: 3.0 | Sound Off
'Slow Show' was the first dance at my wedding, cuss words and all
My singing voice is not up to a rendition though, wish that weren't the case but it is
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Album Rating: 2.5
You'd be suprised how forgiving your friends can be if you run an almost unlimited bar tab
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Album Rating: 3.5
"but only seeing fake empire had that magic, that really special transcendent feeling."
the national performing fake empire is easily on the short list of best live renditions i've ever seen in person. the vibes are unlike anything i've ever experienced.
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Album Rating: 4.0
Yeah, I think they'll always be a worthwhile live band tbh, obviously their setlists are gonna be diluted a bit compared to their peak eras but they still play plenty of the "hits." At my show a few months back they got most of the new stuff out of the way early and it was smooth sailing from there.
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Album Rating: 4.0
I'm kind of obsessed with "Turn off the House" right now, the drums there are so good in a way that reminds me a bit of "Brainy." One of their biggest growers since TWFM.
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These guys still make music? Damn.
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Album Rating: 4.0
“Turn Off the House” is kinda my favorite on this tbh
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Album Rating: 4.0
That one and Smoke Detector have honestly already started on the trajectory to "classic National" for me.
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Album Rating: 2.0
This album is so bad and Smoke Detector is mid
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Album Rating: 3.0 | Sound Off
Album instantly fell out of rotation
Just too much of the same
Probably a 2.5 if loyalty didn’t come into it
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Album Rating: 4.0
I'm still honestly enjoying it a lot. Definitely their best since SWB. I tend to skip "Coat on a Hook" and "Tour Manager" (not even bad songs all things considered but they're the ones most plagued by the issues I had with Frankenstein) but most of the rest is genuinely pretty great. Ranked/rated:
"Space Invader" [5] (a truly classic Natty track, this could have fit perfectly on High Violet)
"Turn off the House" [5] (a biiiiig grower, really love the drums here; my most played but I do think "Space Invader" is better)
"Weird Goodbyes" [4.5] (underrated, great lyrics and melodies and a great flow)
"Smoke Detector" [4.5] (a tiny bit overrated perhaps but really really great)
"Alphabet City" [4.5] (such an interesting instrumental, this is was a big grower for me)
"Crumble" [4.5] (love how they embraced a country style here, just a simple great tune and great guitar work)
"Deep End" [4] (really good but a tiny bit too similar to "Don't Swallow the Cap" for its own good)
"Hornets" [3.5] (a little boring but a very solid singer/songwriter type tune, sounds more an offcut from Matt's solo album)
"Laugh Track" [3.5] (I go back and forth on this but it's certainly better than the Bridgers collabs on Frankenstein, solid melody, decent lyrics)
"Dreaming" [3] (the chorus is lame but I like most of the rest of it, especially the bridge section)
"Coat on a Hook" [2.5] (has good moments but really drags and has some awful lyrics)
"Tour Manager" [2.5] (again, not bad per se, but this is the most "nothing" song on the album)
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Album Rating: 3.5
ranking looks about right
smoke detector floored me the first few listens but it doesn't hold up so well outside of the album imo.
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Album Rating: 3.0 | Sound Off
Sadly I also think I was swept up in Smoke Detector mania - it’s very good but I think probably not a National classic.
I just badly wanted something to cling to among the wreckage.
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Album Rating: 4.0
Yeah, it is really really great but not likely to end up an enduring classic. Should make a decent addition to live sets going forward though.
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Album Rating: 3.5
Hornets is probably the best song they've done since TWFM
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Album Rating: 3.5
i've grown really partial to alphabet city myself
feels like a cross between twfm and swb
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Album Rating: 4.0
Hornets is probably the best song they've done since TWFM
Interesting pick, it's a decent song but like I said it feels more like a Berninger solo track for me.
i've grown really partial to alphabet city myself
Agreed, I read a review that pointed out the inconsistent time signature of that one which I think works really well to create a sort of "searching" mood that mirrors the lyrics well ("Sometimes I wanna drive around and find you / And act like it's a random thing").
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